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Journal ArticleDOI

Location Fingerprinting With Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons

06 May 2015-IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (IEEE)-Vol. 33, Iss: 11, pp 2418-2428
TL;DR: This work provides a detailed study of BLE fingerprinting using 19 beacons distributed around a ~600 m2 testbed to position a consumer device, and investigates the choice of key parameters in a BLE positioning system, including beacon density, transmit power, and transmit frequency.
Abstract: The complexity of indoor radio propagation has resulted in location-awareness being derived from empirical fingerprinting techniques, where positioning is performed via a previously-constructed radio map, usually of WiFi signals. The recent introduction of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio protocol provides new opportunities for indoor location. It supports portable battery-powered beacons that can be easily distributed at low cost, giving it distinct advantages over WiFi. However, its differing use of the radio band brings new challenges too. In this work, we provide a detailed study of BLE fingerprinting using 19 beacons distributed around a $\sim\! 600\ \mbox{m}^2$ testbed to position a consumer device. We demonstrate the high susceptibility of BLE to fast fading, show how to mitigate this, and quantify the true power cost of continuous BLE scanning. We further investigate the choice of key parameters in a BLE positioning system, including beacon density, transmit power, and transmit frequency. We also provide quantitative comparison with WiFi fingerprinting. Our results show advantages to the use of BLE beacons for positioning. For one-shot (push-to-fix) positioning we achieve $30\ \mbox{m}^2$ ), compared to $100\ \mbox{m}^2$ ) and < 8.5 m for an established WiFi network in the same area.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A novel, yet practical smartphone-based contact tracing approach, employing WiFi and acoustic sound for relative distance estimate, in addition to the air pressure and the magnetic field for ambient environment matching, which is one of the first work to propose a combination of smartphone sensors for contact tracing.
Abstract: Contact tracing is widely considered as an effective procedure in the fight against epidemic diseases. However, one of the challenges for technology based contact tracing is the high number of fals...

25 citations


Cites background or methods from "Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..."

  • ...) on the 40 BLE channels to inform its existence [7, 8, 10, 19]....

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  • ...To assess the efficiency of the magnetic readings with respect to the distance between the two smartphones, we separate the 240 test locations into 4 categories, that are, tests within [0-1] metres, [1-2] metres, [2-3] metres, and [3-30] metres (more emphasis was given for those under 3 metres as they are of our particular interest), then computing the magnetic magnitude difference between the two smartphones in each category....

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01 Sep 2017
TL;DR: The first public dataset of ambient localization signals, AmbiLoc, provides an easy entry and a common reference for researchers exploring novel indoor localization methods and includes received signals strength (RSS) fingerprints of FM, TV and GSM signals, along with the relevant metadata (such as weather conditions).
Abstract: Ambient indoor localization — an approach that leverages ambient radio signals — has been previously shown to provide promising positioning performance using the globally available infrastructure of FM, TV and cellular stations. However, the need for specialized equipment and laborious data collection constitute a high entry barrier for follow-up studies. This paper presents AmbiLoc — a dataset of radio signals for ambient indoor localization research. The dataset has been systematically collected in multiple testbeds, including large-scale and multi-floor buildings, over the course of one year. Due to the use of a software-defined radio receiver, raw signal samples in AmbiLoc allow extraction of arbitrary fingerprinting features. The first edition of AmbiLoc, introduced in this paper, includes received signals strength (RSS) fingerprints of FM, TV and GSM signals, along with the relevant metadata (such as weather conditions). The dataset is available online at AmbiLoc.org. As the first public dataset of ambient localization signals, AmbiLoc provides an easy entry and a common reference for researchers exploring novel indoor localization methods.

24 citations


Cites background from "Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..."

  • ...State-of-the-art indoor positioning systems already achieve remarkable accuracy using conventional technologies such as Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth beacons [1], [2]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A real-time fusion workflow to improve localization accuracy of smartphone by integrating a trilateration algorithm with a specific fingerprinting method to resist RSS fluctuations, and obtaining accurate locations as the baseline result is developed.
Abstract: For localization in daily life, low-cost indoor positioning systems should provide real-time locations with a reasonable accuracy. Considering the flexibility of deployment and low price of iBeacon technique, we develop a real-time fusion workflow to improve localization accuracy of smartphone. First, we propose an iBeacon-based method by integrating a trilateration algorithm with a specific fingerprinting method to resist RSS fluctuations, and obtain accurate locations as the baseline result. Second, as turns are pivotal for positioning, we segment pedestrian trajectories according to turns. Then, we apply a Kalman filter (KF) to heading measurements in each segment, which improves the locations derived by pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR). Finally, we devise another KF to fuse the iBeacon-based approach with the PDR to overcome orientation noises. We implemented this fusion workflow in an Android smartphone and conducted real-time experiments in a building floor. Two different routes with sharp turns were selected. The positioning accuracy of the iBeacon-based method is RMSE 2.75 m. When the smartphone is held steadily, the fusion positioning tests result in RMSE of 2.39 and 2.22 m for the two routes. In addition, the other tests with orientation noises can still result in RMSE of 3.48 and 3.66 m. These results demonstrate our fusion workflow can improve the accuracy of iBeacon positioning and alleviate the influence of PDR drifting.

24 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Fan Qigao1, Hai Zhang1, Sun Yan1, Zhu Yixin1, Zhuang Xiangpeng1, Jie Jia1, Pengsong Zhang1 
02 May 2018-Sensors
TL;DR: An Optimal Enhanced Kalman Filter (OEKF) is proposed in this paper to achieve accurate positioning of pedestrians within an enclosed environment and results show that the accuracy of the pedestrian indoor positioning system can reach 0.243 m, giving it a high practical value.
Abstract: Aimed at overcoming the problems of cumulative errors and low positioning accuracy in single Inertial Navigation Systems (INS), an Optimal Enhanced Kalman Filter (OEKF) is proposed in this paper to achieve accurate positioning of pedestrians within an enclosed environment. Firstly, the errors of the inertial sensors are analyzed, modeled, and reconstructed. Secondly, the cumulative errors in attitude and velocity are corrected using the attitude fusion filtering algorithm and Zero Velocity Update algorithm (ZUPT), respectively. Then, the OEKF algorithm is described in detail. Finally, a pedestrian indoor positioning experimental platform is established to verify the performance of the proposed positioning system. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the pedestrian indoor positioning system can reach 0.243 m, giving it a high practical value.

24 citations


Cites background from "Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..."

  • ...Faragher, R.; Harle, R. Location fingerprinting with Bluetooth low energy beacons....

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  • ...Wireless positioning technologies include infrared [3], ultrasonic [4], Bluetooth [5], Wi-Fi [6], ZigBee [7], Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) [8], Ultra Wideband (UWB) [9], visual [10], and wireless network positioning technology [11]....

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Patent
14 Dec 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, a method and system of creating microlocation zones by defining virtual boundaries using a system of one or more transmitters and receivers with one or multiple spatially-correlated antennas is presented.
Abstract: A method and system of creating microlocation zones by defining virtual boundaries using a system of one or more transmitters and receivers with one or more spatially-correlated antennas.

24 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 2007
TL;DR: Comprehensive performance comparisons including accuracy, precision, complexity, scalability, robustness, and cost are presented.
Abstract: Wireless indoor positioning systems have become very popular in recent years. These systems have been successfully used in many applications such as asset tracking and inventory management. This paper provides an overview of the existing wireless indoor positioning solutions and attempts to classify different techniques and systems. Three typical location estimation schemes of triangulation, scene analysis, and proximity are analyzed. We also discuss location fingerprinting in detail since it is used in most current system or solutions. We then examine a set of properties by which location systems are evaluated, and apply this evaluation method to survey a number of existing systems. Comprehensive performance comparisons including accuracy, precision, complexity, scalability, robustness, and cost are presented.

4,123 citations


"Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Indoor positioning is a mature research field, with many proposed technologies and techniques—comprehensive overviews can be found in [2], [18], [19]....

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Proceedings ArticleDOI
06 Jun 2005
TL;DR: The Horus system identifies different causes for the wireless channel variations and addresses them and uses location-clustering techniques to reduce the computational requirements of the algorithm and the lightweight Horus algorithm helps in supporting a larger number of users by running the algorithm at the clients.
Abstract: We present the design and implementation of the Horus WLAN location determination system. The design of the Horus system aims at satisfying two goals: high accuracy and low computational requirements. The Horus system identifies different causes for the wireless channel variations and addresses them to achieve its high accuracy. It uses location-clustering techniques to reduce the computational requirements of the algorithm. The lightweight Horus algorithm helps in supporting a larger number of users by running the algorithm at the clients.We discuss the different components of the Horus system and its implementation under two different operating systems and evaluate the performance of the Horus system on two testbeds. Our results show that the Horus system achieves its goal. It has an error of less than 0.6 meter on the average and its computational requirements are more than an order of magnitude better than other WLAN location determination systems. Moreover, the techniques developed in the context of the Horus system are general and can be applied to other WLAN location determination systems to enhance their accuracy. We also report lessons learned from experimenting with the Horus system and provide directions for future work.

1,631 citations


"Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Here the focus is on radio positioning, specifically using the empirical fingerprinting techniques [3], [15], [17], [22] that avoid the need to model the complex radio propagation environment indoors by patternmatching to a previously surveyed map of radio signal strengths....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that PDR techniques alone can offer good short- to medium- term tracking under certain circumstances, but that regular absolute position fixes from partner systems will be needed to ensure long-term operation and to cope with unexpected behaviours.
Abstract: With the continual miniaturisation of sensors and processing nodes, Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) systems are becoming feasible options for indoor tracking. These use inertial and other sensors, often combined with domain-specific knowledge about walking, to track user movements. There is currently a wealth of relevant literature spread across different research communities. In this survey, a taxonomy of modern PDRs is developed and used to contextualise the contributions from different areas. Techniques for step detection, characterisation, inertial navigation and step-and-heading-based dead-reckoning are reviewed and compared. Techniques that incorporate building maps through particle filters are analysed, along with hybrid systems that use absolute position fixes to correct dead-reckoning output. In addition, consideration is given to the possibility of using smartphones as PDR sensing devices. The survey concludes that PDR techniques alone can offer good short- to medium- term tracking under certain circumstances, but that regular absolute position fixes from partner systems will be needed to ensure long-term operation and to cope with unexpected behaviours. It concludes by identifying a detailed list of challenges for PDR researchers.

749 citations


"Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..." refers background in this paper

  • ...fingerprints with other sources to form hybrid systems, many of which are based on the idea of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) [10], [16] being applied to pedestrian dead reckoning [13]....

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01 Feb 2000
TL;DR: This paper analyzes shortcomings of the basic system, develops and evaluates solutions to address these shortcomings, and describes several new enhancements, including a novel access point-based environmental profiling scheme, and a Viterbi-like algorithm for continuous user tracking and disambiguation of candidate user locations.
Abstract: We address the problem of locating users inside buildings using a radio-frequency (RF) wireless LAN. A previous paper presented the basic design and a limited evaluation of a user-location system we have developed. In this paper, we analyze shortcomings of the basic system, and develop and evaluate solutions to address these shortcomings. Additionally, we describe several new enhancements, including a novel access point-based environmental profiling scheme, and a Viterbi-like algorithm for continuous user tracking and disambiguation of candidate user locations. Using extensive data collected from our deployment, we evaluate our system’s performance over multiple wireless LAN technologies and in different buildings on our campus. We also discuss significant practical issues that arise in implementing such a system. Our techniques are implemented purely in software and are easily deployable over a standard wireless LAN.

608 citations

01 Jun 2010
TL;DR: NTP version 4 (NTPv4), which is backwards compatible with NTP version 3 (N TPv3), described in RFC 1305, as well as previous versions of the protocol, are described.
Abstract: The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is widely used to synchronize computer clocks in the Internet. This document describes NTP version 4 (NTPv4), which is backwards compatible with NTP version 3 (NTPv3), described in RFC 1305, as well as previous versions of the protocol. NTPv4 includes a modified protocol header to accommodate the Internet Protocol version 6 address family. NTPv4 includes fundamental improvements in the mitigation and discipline algorithms that extend the potential accuracy to the tens of microseconds with modern workstations and fast LANs. It includes a dynamic server discovery scheme, so that in many cases, specific server configuration is not required. It corrects certain errors in the NTPv3 design and implementation and includes an optional extension mechanism. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

605 citations


"Location Fingerprinting With Blueto..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Before each experiment, each clock was manually synchronized using a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server [20]....

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